So as many of you know, I recently purchased a Peavey Wolfgang and an Ibanez JEM-555. I bought the Wolfgang sight unseen as it was almost 200 miles from my location.

The JEM however; I had ample opportunity to examine before and at the time of purchase (which I did). However; after a few days of playing on it, I noticed that it didnt seem to stay in tune very well. The first day I chalked it up to new strings. The second day I began to blame it on new strings and a poorly done guitar center set up. By the 3rd day I was blaming it on a poor set up and the Floyd Rose trem. I believe your starting to get the point now. Well this morning I began messing with the FR and only after an hour of tweaking did I notice that the 2 posts that the trem rest against were leaning forward (and at that one even more so than the other).

So I took a short ride to a trusted tech, and IMO the best in the area, and had him take a look. He agreed that the wood (basswood body) was fatigued and needed to be drilled out, filled and redrilled for new posts and bushings. YAY!!! thats $200 on top of the purchase price!

Now I could take it back to GC and either return it (I dont want to do this), or let GC fix it (are you kidding me? they did the original set up and deemed it sellable! And lets be honest here, I wouldnt let the techs at GC do a set up on my anvil!) Which leaves me with the option of paying someone I know to be qualified to do the work have at it.

So the moral here? Look any potential purchase over inside and out. Some issues may be obvious, others nigh unnoticeable.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Good advise all_thumbs09 for us all. With tax returns coming back alot of us get that yearly chance of adding to the family. I will keep that in mind on my searches. I guess that is one reason i've always been scared to buy used. Some of us counting myself would'nt know if it should be that way or not. Thanks for sharing and hopefully you can get it fixed and it won't spoil you buy too much.

Well bloody hell.

Personaly I'd be taking the guitar back and demanding my money back. You were in 2 minds over which of the guitars to have, once you saw the wolfgang. Which is to your satisfaction.

For $200 you could buy a replacement body and finish it yourself.
I'm thinking a nice tree theme.

http://www.edroman.com/guitars/ibanez/parts.htm

This guy looks to be over your side of the pond, judging from the time difference with here.

http://www.ibanezrules.com/contact.htm

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No no and no

I'm affraid I may have to do just that! I've emailed the manager of GC (Mondays are his day off, so no point in calling), but am certain the only options he'll allow will be either a return, or to allow them to fix it (which they could never do to my satisfation) Which is a shame because I've become quite taken with the guitar and its features.

The only positive spin on this is that I could return the JEM and walk out with the Grestch i've recently been Gasing over. However; even that is little consolation at this point.

Man, this is disappointment at its finest.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Good luck all-thumbs, hope it works out for you.......... Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Thanks Mike. At least I'm not stuck with it. Less than ideal options are better than no options!

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

I dunno mate
A gretsch
A metal guitar
A esp eclipse
A G&L strat
A LP your building yourself
A camo tele
A Cigar box


I'd be very happy with that arrangement. What else have you lurking around the place? Any V's or Explorers you want to tell us about? Maybe a electric12 or 2.

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No no and no

Hey All thumbs...
Man does that suck, well maybe that Gretsch was calling your name all along... Let us know how it turns out.

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Alright now, your gonna give folks round here the wrong idea about me. First off, the Camocaster was a build for a friend who just returned from Iraq. I traded the G&L off for a handful of effects pedals (before the angry mob gathers and lights up the torches, it was a beat up modded Korean model) and at present the Cohibacaster is in about 8 parts in a bin out in me shop. The Gretsch is little more than a want at this point that may never come to be. So I only have 4 working guitars (counting the busted JEM).

The Les Paul Reed Smith now (AKA "The carved top")... I have something interesting planned for it!
I'd give more details, but unfortunately I cant. Lets just say jaws are gonna drop around the forum when its finally completed (which with any luck will be in about 2 months).

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Sorry to hear that man.... You shouldn't have to pay $200.00 more after you paid that much for the JEM. It really doesn't surprize me from guitar center...they are the reason I try if I can to buy from mom and pop stores.

Hahaha

Well I had to get you to spill the beans one way or another.

I for one cant wait to see it. We havent seen enough of that guitar.

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No no and no

Trust me... You'll get an eye full!

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

I wouldn't exactly be broken hearted if I could return a baffed out guitar and pick up a Gretsch,if you don't have one or haven't played many you're in for a treat,they have a sound all of their own.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Believe me! I'd have no qualms at all about bringing that Gretsch home! But I really was impressed with that JEM! It is extremely versitile, comfortable and just a real joy to play! I would honestly prefer to have both! I'm greedy that way!

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"